PSC targets utilities' response to storms

ALBANY, NEW YORK - The state Public Service Commission wants electric utilities NYSEG and Con Edison to improve their communications practices with customers and elected officials in the wake of a severe windstorm that hit New York state in January.

The Jan. 18 storm left 60,000 customers of Consolidated Edison Inc. and 40,000 customers of New York State Electric & Gas Corp. without power. Restoration efforts took as long as five days in the hardest-hit areas, and it followed a large storm that hit the state only a week earlier.

It was a different windstorm from the one that left some Capital Region residents without power for five days in February.

NYSEG, which is based in Binghamton, serves 55,000 customers in the Capital Region, but most of the January outages occurred in Dutchess, Putnam and northern Westchester counties.

One person and one dog died in NYSEG territory as a result of the January storm, according to the PSC, which did not find fault over the human fatality. But the agency said the company did not respond to reports of the downed wire that resulted in the death of the dog.

Recently, the PSC said NYSEG must implement plans to improve communications with customers, including posting information on power restoration and dry ice distribution on its Web site. The company must also expand its efforts to educate customers and public officials about the power-restoration process.

"Our people from across the state who worked to restore power during and following the January storms did an excellent job under very difficult circumstances," NYSEG spokesman Clay Ellis said in a statement. "Over the long term, NYSEG has a solid track record in all aspects of storm restoration, including safety, quick and efficient service restoration, and communications with all stakeholders."

Ellis said the PSC is making the demands while asking the company to implement rate cuts that NYSEG believes will jeopardize its ability to provide safe and reliable service.

The PSC and NYSEG have been fighting over the company's rates, and two administrative law judges recommended earlier in the month that the utility reduce rates by $37.2 million next year.

The PSC is expected to rule on the rates later this year.

"Clearly, they cannot have it both ways," Ellis said.

A Con Edison spokesman said the New York City-based utility "has already met with many officials and is working with them on communications."

The PSC is expected at its July meeting to address National Grid's response to the February windstorm, which knocked out power to 120,000 Capital Region customers.

In a report filed with the PSC in April, National Grid said a software system used to manage power outages crashed several times. That caused some communication problems with customers, the report said.

The storm was one of the worst to hit National Grid's territory in the past 15 years.

National Grid spokesman Alberto Bianchetti said the company has been working with the PSC on its review of the storm response. Utilities are required to submit response reports to the PSC following storms that knock out power for more than three days. The PSC then reviews the reports and can make recommendations to the utility.

"We provided the information that the (PSC) staff has requested," Bianchetti said.